My First Battle with Vertigo and How the Epley Maneuver Saved Me
It started like any other day. I stood up to get out of bed when the world around me began to tilt. It was as if someone had spun my chair without warning—suddenly, I was on a nauseating carnival ride I never asked to be on. The walls shifted, the floor felt like it was sliding out from under me, and my stomach flipped as I desperately grabbed at the walls and bed, trying to steady myself. I had never experienced anything like this before. This wasn’t just dizziness; it was a full-on spinning sensation that made me feel completely out of control.
The Unseen Culprit: Crystals in the Ear
After that first episode, we walked to the local farmer's market and I found myself in a cycle of spinning attacks that could strike at any time, without warning. I struggled to buy a few vegetables and walk home, keeping my head as still as possible along the way. At home it happened when I was lying down, turning over in bed that night, or even just bending over to give Frankie a treat. It felt like I was on a boat in the middle of a stormy sea, the ground shifting with each move I made. After a full twenty-fours hours struggling to keep my head still, clinging to walls and chairs for balance, and barely moving, I decided to research my symptoms online and discovered that my severe dizziness—known as Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) was often caused by tiny crystals called otoconia becoming dislodged and drifting into the wrong part of the ear canal. While it was a relief to finally understand what was happening, the idea of these microscopic crystals wreaking havoc inside my head was unsettling.
Normally, these crystals are supposed to stay put in a specific area of the ear called the utricle, where they help with balance and sensing motion. However, when they move into the semicircular canals—the part of your ear responsible for detecting rotation—they disrupt the normal fluid flow, sending confusing signals to your brain about your body’s position. This is what causes that awful spinning sensation. It’s as if your inner GPS has completely lost track of your location, sending you veering in every direction.
The Epley Maneuver: A Simple Solution to a Dizzying Problem
Determined to fix the problem myself, I scoured the internet for solutions and stumbled upon the Epley Maneuver, a series of head and body movements designed to guide the displaced crystals back to their rightful place. It sounded almost too simple—a series of controlled tilts and turns to reset my inner balance. Despite feeling skeptical, I was willing to try anything to get my life back on track.
I asked Jon to read out the instructions carefully as I followed along. The Epley Maneuver required me to sit on the bed and quickly lie down, turning my head in a specific direction. I have to admit, the first time I tried it, the spinning got worse before it got better. As I tilted my head, it felt like I had jumped onto a merry-go-round spinning wildly out of control. My stomach churned, and I had to grip the bed to keep from losing my bearings. I quickly powered through the rest of the movements and felt no relief.
Jon delved further into the Epley Maneuver, uncovering precise details about the timing of each step and the importance of pinpointing the affected ear. To determine which ear was the problem, I turned my head 45 degrees to the right and quickly lay down. The violent spinning sensation confirmed it was my right ear. We learned that each position needed to be held for 30 to 60 seconds, giving the crystals time to shift out of the semicircular canal.
The maneuver began with me sitting on the bed, turning my head 45 degrees toward the right. I then quickly lay back so that my head hung slightly off the edge of the bed. After holding this position, I turned my head 90 degrees to the left and waited another minute before rolling onto my left side with my nose pointed toward the ground. Finally, I slowly sat up, keeping my head steady and upright.
To test if it had worked, I repeated the initial movement of turning my head to the right and lying down quickly. This time, there was no dizziness, no nausea, and the room stayed perfectly still. I stood up effortlessly, free of any vertigo symptoms. Feeling hopeful, I took a long walk afterward. I felt a bit unsteady at first, but the spinning was gone. Later that afternoon, I performed the maneuver one more time just to be sure, even though I wasn’t experiencing any dizziness. By the next day, all the lingering wobbliness and dizziness had vanished. It was as if the vertigo had never happened.
Getting My Balance Back
The difference was unbelievable. After just one round of the Epley Maneuver, I felt like myself again—no spinning, no nausea, and no more anxiety about moving my head the wrong way. The relief was immediate, almost surreal, especially after how overwhelming and confusing the vertigo had been just a few hours earlier. I didn’t realize how tense I’d become from constantly guarding my movements until that weight was lifted.
Vertigo isn’t just feeling a bit dizzy—it’s a completely disorienting condition that affects every part of your life. Knowing that a simple maneuver could bring back that sense of normalcy was a huge relief.
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